


Say You Won't Let Go

by ReadingIsEverything



Series: I Wanna Stay With You Until We're Gray and Old [1]
Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2017-06-29
Packaged: 2018-11-03 08:36:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 11,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10963608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReadingIsEverything/pseuds/ReadingIsEverything
Summary: This is at least loosely if not completely inspired by and based on the wildly popular song "Say You Won't Let Go" by James Arthur. Please enjoy. :)





	1. A Talk and A Plan

**Author's Note:**

> Hey. I'm back. Sorryfor the long hiatus. I will see if I'm updating my other works for this fandom. I really hope you enjoy this. It was inspired by and at least somewhat based on my favorite song. Leave comments and kudos. :)

Laura Hollace was not a fan of parts whatsoever, and yet she was at Silas University’s largest bash of the year, which was thrown by the infamously loud and crazy fraternity known as Zeta Omega Mu. She was currently standing int the corner of what seemed to be the living area of the frat house, drinking a cup of water and scanning the room. From here, everyone seemed to be here. All the popular kids stood in a huddle by the chocolate fountain, talking animatedly. Except one. The most popular one of all of them, and by far Laura’s favorite stood alone. One of the main reasons that Carmilla Karnstein was popular, aside from her beauty and extreme intelligence, was the fact that she wasn’t at all like everyone else. She didn’t have a clique or a certain group of people she was often spotted with. She wandered the halls and the campus doing her own thing. 

Laura watched Carmilla from her distance. The dark-haired girl was reading a thick book and occasionally sipping at a glass of what appeared to be red wine. She’s beautiful, Laura thought to herself. Not just seh’s really pretty but also because she has brains to back it up. 

The younger girl felt a tap on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw Wilson Kirsch smiling at her. In the year she had been here, the most popular of the bros had taken her under his wing, treating her like a kid sister and showing her weird things like how to throw a wad of chewed gum directly at the head of someone she didn’t like. Things that would be useless in real life but were fun and entertaining.   
“Hey, Kirsch,” Laura said, hugging the taller of them. Kirsch grinned and ruffled her hair.

“You’re interested in Broody over there?” he guessed. Laura blushed, “Was I that obvious?”  
Kirsch smiled impishly. “Nah, I just know where to look.” Laura swatted playfully at his arm. “What?” Kirsch protested, pretending to look injured. “I didn’t call you Hottie this time.”

Laura nodded. “True.” the two stood in silence for a while longer before Kirsch, of course, broke it. “I can get you with her,” he spoke up. Laura glared. “I don’t just want sex.”  
Kirsch nodded in understanding. “Who would with that one? Well, we’ll figure it out. I know for sure she’s into chicks.”  
Laura smiled at him. He could be a little much sometimes, but his heart was truly in the right place. “Thanks, Kirsch.”  
The Zeta nodded. “No problem, hottie.” This time, Laura punched him.


	2. The Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hollstein being utterly adorable and all. Please enjoy.

Laura stood in her corner as Kirsch went to talk her up to Carmilla. She was both nervous and excited all at once. She wondered what Carmilla would think of her and she wondered how things would go and…

Her reverie was interrupted by the return of Kirsch, walking beside Carmilla, who looked mildly interested when she spotted Laura. The younger of the two blushed profusely at the calculating once-over she was receiving from Carmilla.   
“Well, don’t you look like a virgin sacrifice,” the dark-haired goddess said, her voice low and seductive. Laura tried to speak, but her throat was inexplicably unable to move. She couldn’t make a sound.

“She’s just a little shy,” Kirsch explained to Carmilla who nodded in comprehension.

“I’ll leave you to it,” he said, flashing Laura a smile and walking off. Carmilla smiled at Laura, an enigmatic turn of the lips that had young Miss Hollace enthralled.

“So, Cupcake, How are things?” she asked, looking at Laura attentively. Laura inhaled and did her best to not sound like a complete idiot.  
“Good.”  
Needless to say, she failed. Carmilla chuckled, a low deep sound that made Laura’s heart turn over.

“I hear you’re a journalism major. Are the projects killing you yet?”

Laura giggled and nodded her head. “Yeah. They, uh, they’re really complex.”

Carmilla smiled teasingly. “For a journalist, you don’t have many words, Buttercup,” she stated. Laura reddened again. “I’m just really nervous,” she explained.

Carmilla nodded her head. “Let’s do something fun,” she suggested. At Laura’s questioning look, she continued. “We’ll go somewhere. Have you ever seen the stars?”

“Not really.” The younger girl looked embarrassed.   
The dark-haired girl smiled a surprisingly warm smile. “There’s a first time for everything, now isn’t there?” she returned, taking Laura’s hand in her own. The younger of the two couldn’t help noticing how utterly soft Carmilla’s hand was. It was like silk and rose petals and morning dew and—Whoa, whoa, cool it, Hollace! Laura scolded herself. She couldn’t feel this way about Carmilla just yet.   
Carmilla smiled, as if reading her mind. “I use herbal lotions and concoctions and such. Also, there’s this amazing paste developed by the alchemy club. I wouldn’t trust them as far as I can throw them, but you have to admit, some of their inventions aren’t half bad.”

Laura looked amazed. “Did you read my mind?” she asked, a little nervous.  
Looking amused, Carmilla brushed her hand along Laura’s. “No, cutie. I have ears. Some might even say my hearing is superb.”

Laura blushed yet again. “Oh my God, I said that aloud?” she looked utterly embarrassed. Carmilla smiled fondly. “You sure did, Princess.” Laura grinned. This was going pretty great. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea for her to come to this party. Maybe, just maybe, it was fate.


	3. The Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The couple's first kinda date.

Carmilla led Laura out of the crowd and onto the patio of the frat house. Laura sighed in relief at the cool, sweet air that ran over her heated skin. She wasn’t directly in the large crowd, but she still felt the overly warm atmosphere that was created by the crowd and their dancing and such.

“I absolutely despise parties,” Carmilla said confidingly to Laura, as if she knew what the other girl had been thinking. Laura turned pink around the ears. “Oh, God did I say that aloud too?” she asked, horrified.

Carmilla smiled at Laura’s expression. “No, no. I have just been in your situation once before, that’s all. My mother once made me go to this party that was packed. She said I had to make friends or I’d be lonely. You can see I never listen to her.”  
Laura giggled. “You’re such a rebel,” she teased. Carmilla gave her a charming smile. “I try.”

The two talked for what seemed like forever. No one would have guessed but they had a great deal in common. They were both fond of literature and they were both very quiet, though for different reasons: Laura was naturally shy while Carmilla was just not very fond of humans. She found modern individuals to be dull and air-headed. They weren’t as well educated as they used to be in her time. Carmilla was a vampire who had lived for centuries. She went to this school because her maker wanted her to interact with contemporary humans, people of this time period. She wanted Carmilla to understand them as well as, if not better, than the people of 1700sEurope. Now, Carmilla was starting to think maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea for her to attend this institution. She had met lots of lovely, eligible young women, after all, none of which the least was Laura.

The vampire led the young human to the patio and guided her into on e of the chairs that was there for the visitors’ convenience. “There’s a telescope,” she elaborated, guiding the instrument on its wheels over to the spot Laura sat. Settling herself in the chair next to hers, Carmilla looked through the telescope with Laura. She already knew what was there, of course.

Laura gasped in wonder as she looked through the telescope’s glass into the magic of the stars. She couldn’t believe her eyes. She had never had the opportunity to see something like this in her hometown in Ontario, Canada. She and her father had lived in a busy, bustling metropolis, a place where the skyline had blocked the view of the stars above. If they were lucky, they ad been able to see a few on an extremely clear night, but Laura had never seen this many. They glimmered at her, a huge expanse of bright, mysterious, magical lights in the distance.  
“They’re beautiful,” she whispered in a hushed, awestruck way. She couldn’t believe it. Carmilla gave her an amused and knowing smile. She had been in Laura’s situation once, when she had been a naive, provincial girl. Her maker, Florette—a French noblewoman who was extremely learned took her as prey, biting her at the ball that was organized to commemorate Mircalla’s eighteenth birthday. She had then proceeded to teach Carmilla in the ways o the world, everything from the stars to foreign languages tho otherworldly matters. Carmilla was thankful to have her.

“They are,” the older girl said to Laura now. “They have lots of stories behind them, but in reality they are just balls of gas and dust and fire, pretty things that serve almost no purpose.”  
“Except the sun,” Laura retorted quickly. “The sun gives us light and it keeps us nice and toasty warm.”

Carmilla smiled at the tiny human’s enthusiasm. “That’strue. Although the position of the Earth inarguably has a great hand in our current living conditions. If it were a little closer, we would be toast.”  
Laura laughed. “If we were further away, we would be popsicles.”

The vampire nodded. “True. Are you hungry?”   
Laura inclined her head. Carmilla went inside to retrieve something edible for the tiny human currently making her heart figuratively pound. (It couldn’t really move, of course. She was dead, after all!) It had been a few hours since the pair had made their way to the patio. They were now enjoying a glass of wine and talking nonstop. Carmilla usually didn’t like to talk this much, but for Laura it seemed she was making an exception. Laura was fun to talk to. She was mature enough that she didn’t appear to be a complete idiot, unlike many people her age, which Carmilla had learned was nineteen. In addition, many of the younger girl’s interests matched Carmilla’s. So yeah, things were going great.  
The two made their way around the Zetas’ property per Laura’s request. She was a freshman and had spent most of her time in the university library doing research and reading for fun and therefore hadn’t gotten to look around much.

“It’s really beautiful out here, and I’m not just referring to the stars,” Carmilla purred, making Laura blush once more. “I like that color on you, Cream puff,” Carmilla chuckled, making Laura splutter. “Don’t go there, Carm!” she exclaimed, before covering her mouth and looking at Carmilla apologetically. “Oh my God, I’m really sorry,” she squeaked. “I didn’t mean to—“

Carmilla covered her mouth with a manicured, gorgeous hand. “Don’t apologize. If you are going to date me you have to have pet names and I rather prefer that to things like pancake and marshmallow cheeks.”  
Laura laughed loudly at that. “What do you think people call each other?” she asked, putting aside the remark about dating to squee over later.   
“Well, not many creative things. ” Carmilla blushed slightly. It was extremely easy to spot since she was so pale, Laura thought to herself. She liked that about Carmilla though. It made her look angelic. Whoa, Hollace, you're really falling, aren't you? a tiny voice asked in her head.

The girls made their way to Laura’s dorm, Carmilla guiding her by the arm politely. “This is it,” Laura whispered, feeling somehow that this was a moment to be savored. It seemed Carmilla felt it too because she looked at Laura with an unidentifiable something in her eyes. The only thing that could be said was that the look was extremely pleasant.   
“Will I be seeing you again?” Laura questioned, looking hopefully at Carmilla. The older of the two nodded her head, a surprisingly warm smile on her face. “Yes, I think so,” she answered. Laura entered the building with a giddy smile on her face and a very noticeable spring in her step. Maybe she was the one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you enjoyed that. If you want to leave feedback or you have any questions, please leave a comment or two or three. Also kudos. Thanks for reading. Keep on living and keep on smiling. :)


	4. The Surprise Interruption

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An unexpected but very welcome guest drops by, along with a cameo from LaFerry. Enjoy.

It had been a while since Laura and Carmilla’s date and Laura was still in a state of euphoria. She kept on replaying the spectacular evening she had enjoyed. She was in class now—calculus—but she couldn’t concentrate on what the professor was saying because she kept on hearing Carmilla’s amazing, sultry voice in her ear, teaching the class instead of Professor Johnson. Carmilla would be a good teacher, Laura thought. She seemed to be calm and collected and educated. Laura thought it was nice that Carmilla was educated. Her previous girlfriends—most of them, anyway—were very ditzy and featherbrained. They didn’t want to talk books or Dr. Who or Harry Potter and yet she and Carmilla had spent much of last night having a text conversation about the merits of using unrestricted magic and the advantages and disadvantages of having the Trace on you until you were considered an adult. It was safe to say that Laura was happy.

“I’m back from the store!” Laura shouted to her roommate, whose name was Eliza. The two had become very fast friends since Betty’s transfer to Princeton. They had heard briefly from Betty as well. She had called a week or so after her departure to update them on her current life and all. She had said Princeton was an exceptional school and she was glad to be going there, especially after the mishaps and all at Silas.  
Eliza walked into the living area of the dorm room she shared with Laura. “Do not tell me you only bought cookies. I will be very angry and hungry if you did.”  
Though she had only spent a couple of months here with Laura, the blonde was already very familiar with the journalism major’s affinity for anything sweet and/or unhealthy.

Laura blushed, set the bag of things on the table that served as an all-purpose furniture piece and ran into her room. Eliza, looking bemused, rifled through the bag and smiled at what she found: Five boxes of cookies, two six-packs of grape soda and one stalk of celery. I need to go myself from now on apparently, she thought, mock exasperated. It was funny that Laura was so intelligent and collected an all an yet she stuffed herself with this crap.

As the two women sat eating dinner—pizza that had been ordered by Eliza and paid for by Laura—their was a knock on the door. The smaller girl got up to open it and found LaFontaine and Perry standing on the other side. She smiled at the sight in front of her. She hadn't seen the pair since the last time they had all gotten together, which had been about a month ago.

“Oh my God, hi!” she said excitedly, hugging them both tightly. LaFontaine smiled and pulled Laura close to their chest, wrapping their arms around the diminutive woman and squeezing tight.  
“That was a really enthusiastic welcome,” they answered as Perry nodded from beside them and took their hand in her own. Laura grinned sheepishly. “My dad said I always had a strong grip. Sorry, LaF.”

The biology major smiled in understanding. Ever since Laura had arrived, they had viewed her as a younger sister, someone to care about and tease and all.  
“Perry and I just thought we might come over and hang with you,” LaFontaine continued, smiling at Perry with tenderness in their eyes. Perry smiled in return.  
Laura smiled to herself at the sight of two of her closest friends being affectionate together. The pair, dubbed LaFerry by almost the entire university, had been going out for six months now and it was already clear that they loved each other beyond any measure. Laura could see it and so could Kirsch and he was one of the most oblivious people Laura knew.

They had all been conversing and having a good time when LaFontaine brought up the elephant in the room. “So, frosh, this new girl you're dating—“ they started before they saw Laura blushing.

“No, LaF, no. Don't ask,” she tried to deflect, but LaFontaine was already on the trail of the scent. “Come on, Laura,” they cajoled, giving Laura a very exaggerated pout. When Laura shook her head, Perry tried.  
“Laura, it is not polite to withhold information. In addition, it is unethical,” she admonished, giving the young woman before her the trademark Perry look: hands on hips, and a stern mother hen look. 

Laura sighed and relented. She explained about the date she had gone on with Carmilla and the amazing time she had had talking about Harry Potter and all with her. “She’s smart and pretty. I mean, come on! How many times do you find a girl like that that actually exists?” Laura concluded, making the other two nod in agreement.  
There was a knock on the door at that moment. Laura shot to her feet an threw it open to reveal a gorgeous black-leather-clad Carmilla. “Lets go out,” she suggested, making Laura grin and intertwine her fingers with Carmilla’s.


	5. An Unexpected Guest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone shows up at Laura and Carmilla's date.

Laura and Carmilla made their way out of the dorm building and through the campus grounds. Laura marveled at the beauty of the grounds: the trees and flowers that bordered the buildings that made up the educational and recreational hubs of Silas University. Surrounded by the plants, the buildings that housed the classrooms, lecture halls, newspaper office and gym, along with the library, cafeteria and dorms gleamed with reflected sunlight. Of course Laura had left her dorm room and her classes to move around a little, but she hadn't had enough time to truly enjoy the sights the Campus had to offer. Funny, since (aside from the journalism program the university offered) another appeal for Laura had been the quaint charm of the place, the absolute beauty in something of its age.

“What, never seen a campus before?” Carmilla joked, making Laura blush and giggle like a schoolgirl. She loved that Carmilla could make her do that with a simple word. “I have. It’s just that I’ve never had the time to just enjoy the view.”  
A wicked grin came over Carmilla’s face. “Try enjoying another view, Cream Puff.” Her tone was dry and her eyes danced with mirth.

Laura marveled at how much the older of the two could make her blush. “I am,” she answered truthfully. Carmilla was a stunning sight in her own right.

The couple walked until they reached a picturesque little cafe on the opposite side of the campus that Laura was usually on. The place was a red building with white trim and a blue door. “Someone has the American spirit,” Laura commented as they walked.

Carmilla inclined her head in agreement. “The owners of this place moved here from the United States. The wife is a journalist while the other wife is a nurse at the local hospital.”  
Laura grinned and somehow she couldn't help but imagine a future with her as a major journalist and Carmilla as a nurse who gave lollipops to sick little kids and told them the shot wouldn't hurt forever.

They were now seated at a table and Laura was looking around. The eatery mostly consisted of young queer couples, quietly talking amongst themselves and eating their meals. There was a small minority of straight couples, talking and looking around with interest.

“About time we weren't the minority, right?” Carmilla quipped, getting a smile from Laura. “True,” she agreed, flashing her girlfriend a smile.

Carmilla sat at the table at The Crooked Path with Laura and she was more contented than she had been in a while. She couldn't help but feel butterflies like she hadn't felt since she was a young girl in 1709 when her maker had taken her to a ballet and she had seen a group of dancers and felt so exhillarated by their beauty and grace.  
“You look beautiful,” Carmilla said, uncharacteristically shy as she looked fondly at Laura. The tiny human beside her was as nervous as her, if not more so. Carmilla could tell because Laura’s heart rate was much quicker than usual and her cheeks were extremely red, even for her.

“So do you,” Laura answered quietly. That’s the understatement of the century, she added silently. Carmilla smiled warmly. “Flattery will get you everywhere, Cupcake,” she said.

They were enjoying a meal of risotto and Arizona ice tea when the tiny bell over the door jangled and a tall, imposing figure walked in, gently holding the arm of an equally lovely woman. Laura smiled at the couple, who seemed to be very in love.  
Carmilla looked up and her heart skipped a beat. The woman was Florette.


	6. The Truth Comes Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The truth about Carmilla is revealed. Also, we meet someone new. Hope you enjoy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really appreciate the hits this little work is getting. Thanks a million. :) Please enjoy. If you need translations or clarifications please leave a comment. Thanks for reading.

Carmilla caught her breath next to Laura as she saw Florette. She hadn’t seen the woman for about ten years. Florette had wanted to travel and she hadn't wanted to take Carmilla with her and she had sent Carmilla to Silas. They ha been very close before all that, but who knew what things were like between them now? Also, Laura was sitting beside Carmilla. The vampire wasn't quite ready for the human to know she was a, you know, a vampire. She was convinced that Laura would run away in shock, fear, or a combination of both.

“Carmilla,” Florette exclaimed, making her way over with the beautiful creature in tow. Her voice was as lovely as Carmilla remembered it to be, accented beautifully with the language of her native France still. “It is a pleasure to see you. And who is this?”

Carmilla blushed a little and turned to take Laura’s hand in her own. “Madame, this is Laura Hollace, ma copine.”  
Florette looked delighted as she grasped Laura’s hand in hers. “Enchante, Mademoiselle,” she said, her voice warm. Carmilla breathed a sigh of relief for the fact that her girlfriend and her (she guessed you could call Florette that) her mother were getting along. She had been fearful of this moment. It seemed to be going smoothly enough, though.

Carmilla’s heart skipped when Florette turned to her. “So, ma Cherie, Have you found true blood or just a substitute still?”  
Laura’s eyes widened from her place at Carmilla’s right. “What?” She asked, her eyes looking frightened. Carmilla felt the blood drain from her face. She hadn't been ready at all!

When Florette didn't receive an answer, she turned to face Carmilla fully. “Qu’est qu’il y a?” she asked in French. The phrase translated to “What’s wrong?” in English.  
Carmilla frowned. “I hadn't told her,” she elaborated, making the confused expression on Florette’s face disappear. “I understand now. She was unaware.”  
Carmilla nodded her head. 

Laura seemed to regain her speech. “So you’re a vampire?’ she asked, looking at Carmilla. The older of the pair nodded. Laura considered it all for a minute or two before a smile spread over her face.

“Don’t drink my blood and we’re all good,” she requested. “I won’t,” promised Carmilla.

Florette smiled. “All is well. Mircalla, I would like you to meat ma femme, Jocelyne. Jocelyne, this is my daughter, Carmilla or Mircalla. That is her girlfriend, Laura.”  
Carmilla smiled after the introductions. She was glad everything had played out well.

Carmilla watched as Laura and Jocelyne talked. Florette’s wife seemed to be very talented and intelligent. In addition to that, she was very attractive and a vampire as well.  
The two women were currently discussing the merits of Leonard over Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory and physics over microbiology while Carmilla and Florette talked 18th-century art.

After the meal was over, the pair walked back to the dorms. Laura smiled as Carmilla kissed her good night. “Why don’t you stay over, Carm?” she asked, making Carmilla smile. “Why not?’ she quipped, following Laura inside.


	7. The Morning After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some fluff before some more fluff. :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for reading this work!!!! I really appreciate it!!!! This is turning out to be a lot of fun. I promise Iwill do my best to make the chapters longer. Hope you enjoy this anyway.

Laura woke up next to Carmilla the next morning and smiled from ear to ear. She couldn't believe she was actually dating and now lying next to this gorgeous woman. Carmilla’s hair spread over the pillow, black and lustrous and her eyelashes, black as midnight, fanned over her cheeks, drawing Laura’s attention to her cheekbones. Damn, I am one lucky woman, Laura mused to herself as she got out of bed and padded quietly out of the room, making her way to the kitchen. She wanted to make breakfast for Carmilla.

Contrary to popular belief (and frequent joking) Laura did, in fact, have edible, healthy (or at least semi-healthy) food in her fridge. She sorted through the various cans of soda and boxes and tubs upon boxes and tubs of ice cream and Popsicles and finally found a carton of organic eggs and a jug of milk. “Score!” she cheered softly, setting to work.

Half an hour later, the whole dorm smelled of freshly made pancakes and strawberries with whipped cream. Laura went over to where Carmilla lay in her bed and nudged her lightly.   
“Carm,” she whispered, not wanting to startle her too badly. Carmilla sat up and grinned at Laura. The younger girl thought the vampire looked adorable with sleep-mussed hair and disheveled clothes.

“Good morning, Cupcake,” she said and Laura’s knees went weak and her heart flipped into her throat. Carmilla’s voice sounded amazing when she first woke up. Not to say it didn't sound fabulous the rest of the time, but—  
“Don’t stare at me yet, Buttercup,” Carmilla joked, prodding at Laura’s side. “You haven't seen me with my clothes off yet.”

Laura blushed at that remark. Carmilla laughed loudly. “Have I mentioned how very much I enjoy making you blush?”  
“God, why me?” Laura pretended to look angry and offended. “Why did I have to end up with her?”  
Carmilla gave Laura a coy, impish smile. “Oh, please, you know you enjoy my company more than anyone else’s. We both know that.”  
Laura dropped her facade. Nodding her head, she moved over to the bed and, taking Carmilla’s face in her hands, kissed her sweetly on the lips. Damn it, Laura thought. Even her lips taste sweet in the morning. Laura couldn't quite identify what the particular flavor was: something between vanilla and metal and sunshine. Then a thought occurred to Laura. Metal for blood?

“So, it’s true about you being a vampire?” Laura asked Carmilla, who was getting dressed. The brunette nodded her head, her mind whirling. What if this was the moment where Laura rejected her forever and despised her as so many others in her life had done?

“So you're like Edward from Twilight?” Laura asked, her eyes glinting with mischief.   
Carmilla glared. She would not be compared to that monstrosity!

“Watch it,” she teased back. “Besides, vampires do not sparkle.”  
Laura nodded seriously. “I got it. Wanna watch stuff?”

After breakfast, which Carmilla sang the praises of until Laura blushed again, the pair spent some time watching TV. They couldn't be more content than they were now, could they?


	8. A Difference In Opinion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Holstein watches TV together. I promise I will try to make the chapters a little longer. Please enjoy anyway.

Laura insisted on making Carmilla watch Grey’s Anatomy.  
“So, it’s just a lot of drama with some medical crap thrown in?” Carmilla summarized after Laura had explained what the show was about. 

The tiny human’s shoulders slumped. She had prepared this eloquent statement about one of her favorite shows, and Carmilla had managed to make it useless.  
“Yeah.” Carmilla smiled and kissed Laura’s cheek affectionately. “I enjoyed the power and potency of your statement about this show, but the only reason I really need is I’m your girlfriend.”  
The vampire smiled and her heart soared. She usually needed a lot of convincing before she would do anything she hadn’t done before, but somehow, doing things or or with Laura was almost—dare she say it?—enjoyable. She surely wouldn’t tire of that smile Laura got that made her look like a beautiful dork every time she got excited or delighted by something or someone. Carmilla wanted to put that smile there as long as she possibly could.

Just as Carmilla predicted, the smile spread across Laura’s face. “Let’s watch!”

Carmilla smiled at the adorableness and settled beside Laura to begin the viewing of this show.  
Before long, the show was boring. Much of the knowledge featured in the show was old news to the centuries-old vampire and some of it was false. In addition to that fact, the drama was overkill.  
Laura turned expectantly to her girlfriend. “So, what did you think?” she asked, her face open and expectant.   
Carmilla considered her options. She usually always told people the truth, no matter how harsh it was. She never flattered or sugar-coated or beat around the bush. But Laura was different somehow. For some inexplicable reason, Carmilla wanted to keep the smile on Laura’s face as long and as often as she could. A tiny voice in her head chastised the vampire: “You are in love, idiot!” Carmilla, being Carmilla, naturally ignored it.

“It’s great!” Carmilla exclaimed and a very false-sounding voice. She grimaced at how contrived it was. She was absolutely sure Laura would see right through it.  
As predicted, Laura scowled at Carmilla. “You’re a really bad liar, you know that?” she said. “Just tell me the truth, Carm. I won’t be offended.”  
Carmilla nodded. “The drama was a little much and a great portion of the medical knowledge is false,” she confessed, looking at Laura’s face to try and see her reaction.

What came next was not at all what Carmilla expected. Instead of Laura becoming very angry and/or indignant and berating Carmilla for not being absolutely enamored by and infatuated with her favorite show, the human laughed. Carmilla was entirely serious when she said this: Laura literally, in no stretch of the imagination, laughed. She laughed so hard that she landed on the floor, a soft thump resulting from her tiny body’s impact on the soft shaggy rug.

Carmilla looked on in utter confusion until Laura had gathered herself and regained her composure. “What is amusing?” Camilla asked, her bemusement apparent on her profile.  
Laura giggled one last time before giving Carmilla a warm, tender look. “I think so, too, sometimes,” she admitted, smiling sheepishly. “I don’t expect you to love everything I do. If I had those kind of expectations, I would never have a relationship, let alone with someone as amazing as you.”

 

Carmilla blushed at the compliment. She wasn’t sure why being praised by this human made her so giddy and light-headed and gave her a warm, contented feeling, filling a void that the vampire hadn’t even been aware was missing.  
“Ha ha, made ya blush!” Laura teased gleefully, wrapping her arms tightly around the older girl. Carmilla smiled. This wasn't bad after all, she supposed.


	9. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carmilla's old friend comes for a visit. Please enjoy.

Carmilla felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her and she gave a very uncharacteristic smile as she returned the warm embrace.  
“What are you doing back here, Mandy?” she asked, ruffling her best friend’s hair. Miranda had been with Carmilla for a very long time. She had been the one person the vampire had spent much of her time with without her mother being any the wiser about her existence. This was the reason behind Miranda Grey’s nickname that had been given to her by the young and newly turned Carmilla: “Little Rebellion.” The two had spent one hundred odd years together and Carmilla had learned more from Miss Grey than she had ever learned from her maker. Miranda’s maker, Loretta, was much kinder than Carmilla’s own and because of this, young Lady Grey was a virtual ray of sunshine. she coaxed Carmilla out of her blue funks and away from the edges of bridges and train platforms many a time. After everything with the girls and her mother’s obsession with power and their subsequent move to Austria, the two women had lost touch. Also, the two makers absolutely despised each other with a passion. Miranda’s mother believed in gaining respect through methods of kindness and acts of good will, while Carmilla’s upheld absolute tyrannical control and the like.

Now, though, Miranda was back and the old friends could not separate for more than a moment.  
“So, little fur ball, what have you been up to in the last two centuries or so?” Miranda asked as the pair of them perched on a low wall that surrounded one of the theater buildings. The younger vampire sat for a long while with her old friend and reunited all that had transpired in the past two hundred years that they hadn’t spent together. She couldn’t help but notice the subtle changes in Miranda: the most notable of these changes was a gleaming gold wedding ring, set with gorgeous diamonds that glittered and shone a brilliant white fire as Miranda gestured with her hands while making comments on what Carmilla was saying.

Eventually, Carmilla had to ask. “So, who’s the lucky woman?”  
The older vampire’s face split into a wide, uncontrollable beaming smile as she looked tenderly at the ring in its place of highest honor on her finger. “Her name is Alexandra, but I just call her Lex or Lexie or whatever and she was a medical student at UCLA. She’s brilliant, talented and beautiful. We’ve been married for ten years now. The best part of all of it though is that Loretta approves.”  
Carmilla’s heart glowed as she reached over and hugged her friend tightly once more. “I am immeasurably delighted for you,” she said, sincerity in every word as she looked at Miranda’s glowing expression. “I do have to meet her sometime, though.”

Miranda laughed and returned Carmilla’s tight embrace just as enthusiastically. “Of course. That’s a given. So, are you seeing someone new?”

Carmilla’s face turned bright pink and Miranda gleefully pounced. “Oh my God, who is it?” She asked, leaning forward and fixing Carmilla with a look that said “Tell all or die a painful death.”  
Carmilla inhaled. “Her name is Laura Hollace. She is a journalism student here and she’s beautiful and talented and everything I could possibly want. She makes me smile more than I ever have or more than I am probably likely to in a very long time and well, yeah,” she trailed off a little pathetically.

Miranda grinned knowingly at her best friend. “YOu’re usually extremely eloquent and silver-tongued. This girl must be something special,” she said, her usually playful and jesting tone serious and tender now. She could clearly see that Carmilla Karnstein was in love, even if Carmilla herself couldn’t see it just yet. Miranda also saw something in the way the younger woman held herself and the way she spoke of this girl—Laura Hollace: Miranda could see very clearly that carmilla was truly in Love this time. She could see this wasn’t just some college fling, even if Carmilla tried to deny it (which, surprisingly, she was not). She even seemed to be agreeing with what Miranda was implying. .

“I’m so happy for you, dear one,” Miranda said earnestly and honestly. She knew Carmilla was very deserving of someone who loved her and could keep up with her in every sense of the expression, and it seemed, at least the way Carmilla described her, that Laura Hollace was the one who would fit all these criteria the best, at least for the time being.

Carmilla looked a little sheepish all of a sudden. “The craziest part of it was that I wasn’t really looking for someone at that party,” she admitted, her cheeks tinted a light rose color. Miranda smiled slyly, already knowing what Carmilla was implying.  
“You were just looking for a good time, Hmm?” she asked, giving the younger woman a friendly pat on her bak.  
Carmilla nodded, her smile growing a little. “I guess I found a little something more.”

the older of the two smiled to herself. This was Carmilla’s roundabout way of admitting, at least a tiny bit, that she had at least strong fondness, if not deep love and affection for the tiny human. Miranda wasn’t too worried, however. She knew very well how Carmilla worked: The young vampire usually took a little while to figure out her emotions and such. She would come to her senses eventually and realize that Laura, though human, was a great choice for someone to share her eternal life with. Maybe she would even turn this miniature human into one of their own kind? Who knew?

Carmilla stood. It was getting late and she had to get back to her dorm. She hugged Miranda again and kissed her cheek warmly. There were very few people who were allowed inside the walls of the fortress that guarded the extremely delicate and valuable thing that was Carmilla’s heart; it was lucky that Miranda Grey was one of that lucky number.  
“be well and be safe, dearest one,” Miranda whispered as they parted. Carmilla nodded and shot a quick smile over her shoulder as she made her way back to the dorm building, its lack of commotion and its peaceful atmosphere luring her, a beacon of calm as she walked toward it, her mind full of thoughts of rest and relaxation and meditation on her feelings for Laura. Yes, Miranda had a point, Carmilla realized. She was, in fact, head over heels for Laura Hollace, journalist in training and stealer of Carmilla Karnstein’s heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the lack of Carmilla/Laura interaction, but this chapter was necessary. I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless and I will try to update soon. Keep on living and keep on smiling. :)


	10. Introduction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laura meets Miranda and the couple res on a bit of a date. Please enjoy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. I really appreciate all the kudos and comments and the hits. My goal is to get to a thousand. We'll see, right? Wink, wink. :) :) Please enjoy this latest installment. :) :)

Carmilla Karnstein was more nervous than she had ever ben in all of her centuries of life on Earth. She was about to introduce Laura to Miranda and she was worried the two would hate each other on sight. Many people she had known over the years had been that way. In addition to that, the portrayals of such situations on television did not help with the nerves currently making the vampire feel nauseous. She knew, of course, that this was, in fact, anatomically impossible. Vampires were not affected by human ailments or any ailments really. However, this knowledge did not assuage the churning of carmilla’s lower torso. She finally understood the human expression depicting butterflies. They were, in this case, present in full force as they made Carmilla regret the large meal of blood and freshly baked chocolate chip cookies she had consumed an hour prior. 

Inhaling deeply, the dark-haired vampire made her way into the dorm building that housed Laura.  
Knocking a little nervously, Carmilla waited for the door to open. Sure enough, a few seconds later, the door opened and Laura smiled tenderly at Carmilla..  
“Hey!” she cried enthusiastically, wrapping her arms tightly around the vampire. The other woman swore that if she had not been a vampire, her airflow would be very limited due to the tight grip Laura had on her neck. Oddly enough, she didn’t really mind it. It was comforting in a bizarre way. It was something Carmilla hadn’t experienced before.

Suddenly, the smaller girl seemed to pick up on Carmilla’s anxiety. “What’s wrong, Carm?” she asked, running her fingers gently through the dark locks that grew on Carmilla’s head. The vampire felt herself melt under her girlfriend’s touch. It was odd that she would react this way to a human’s simple touch, and yet she could feel her body light with the familiar fire of affection and arousal.

“I have a friend I want you to meet,” she explained, causing a glowing, wide smile to cross Laura’s face.  
The tiny human leaned in and kissed Carmilla warmly and soundly.  
“Of course. I’m sure I’ll like them. After all, they are your friend,” she said, placing a certain emphasis on the word “your.”  
Carmilla chuckled, a low, throaty, resonating sound that was all too normal for the centuries-old vampire but which made Laura’s insides warm with love and desire.

They made their way out of the dorm hand in hand. As they walked, the small human entertained the vampire with stories of her friends and even a story about her chemistry professor who had gotten his eyebrows burned off because he was, very irresponsibly if you asked Laura, playing Flappy Bird on his phone, thus not paying attention and getting his eyebrows, his mustache, and even the hair on his forehead completely singed off.  
“He tells us to pay attention and then he’s on his freaking phone,” Laura giggled as the two lovers made their way through the campus grounds, the sunlight playing over their faces and making Carmilla’s unconscious warm and tender smile that much more apparent to the casual observer. Usually, it was very rare for Carmilla Karnstein to willingly show her emotions. It was very hard, ordinarily, for anyone, except Miranda, to pick up on how she was feeling. It seemed, however, that Laura the tiny, ridiculously wonderful human, was tearing down the walls that had taken Carmilla years and years and years to erect. It struck the vampire as odd again that she didn’t mind this intrusion.

Laura squealed, pulling Carmilla out of her quiet musings.  
“That place looks great for lunch,” she explained at Carmilla’s questioning look.  
“Can we stop in for a couple minutes?”  
Carmilla wasn’t going to say no anyway, but with the adorable look she was currently receiving from Laura, she would have been extremely hard pressed to refuse the girl anything her little heart desired.  
“Sure we can, Buttercup,” she answered, leading Laura into the little eatery.

The place was called Madame Perdu’s and Carmilla explained to a rapt Laura that Madame Chloe Perdu had immigrated from northern France to Austria and she had settled down with her wife, Valerie, to open a cafe where they could host people from all walks of life. Carmilla went on to recount the story of how she had met the couple ten years ago. She had been their tour guide when they had first arrived. She had given them a place to stay until they had gotten on their feet.  
“they often give food to the homeless,” Carmilla added.  
Laura smiled as they sat down. “That’s awesome!”  
Judging from her tone of voice, which was enthusiastic and passionate, you would’ve sworn she was talking about saving the world, not her admiration or fondness for a couple who helped people once in a while and who had come from a long way to do something with their lives. Carmilla grinned as her heart filled yet again with overpowering emotion for the tiny human currently sitting beside her and staring around in complete awe and fascination and wonder and all the other things one ordinarily associates with a young child’s first true taste of the world outside their sheltered bubble.

“The place is decorated and run by the Perdus,” Carmilla said in answer to Laura’s unspoken question.  
As if on cue, Valerie stepped out of some unseen niche and came bustling over to hug the vampire. A woman of about thirty-five with long hair and bright, intelligent green eyes, Valerie embraced Carmilla in a long, warm hug.  
“Hello, Carmilla,” she said warmly, stroking the dark hair on carmilla’s head. Carmilla smiled in return and responded with her own hug.  
“Bonjour, Valerie,” she answered in perfect French, making Laura grin from her spot beside Carmilla.

In no time, the couple was settled at a small table draped in blue and they had pastries in front of them.  
“The things these two can do with a bunch of flour and an oven are magic tricks,” Carmilla said as she took a bite. Laura followed in suit and moaned in appreciation, blushing bright scarlet afterwords and making Carmilla smile.  
Their was a rap on the table and Miranda stood beside them with a smile  
“I was passing through and I happened to see you two in the window. So you’re the ever-glorious Laura Hollace,” she said, embracing Laura.

The human grinned.  
“Potterhead extraordinair, Dr. Who lover and sugar addict,” she listed off in a serious tone.  
The afternoon went swimmingly and Miranda hugged Carmilla after it all.  
“She’s a keeper, Mircalla,” the other vampire proclaimed. “Don’t you dare lose her.”  
Carmilla grinned. “I sure as hell won’t.:  
The two women parted and Carmilla took Laura’s hand again.

The two made their way back to the dorm and Carmilla gave Laura a passionate kiss goodbye. “A parting gift,” she said, smiling and kissing her cheek before disappearing.  
Laura smiled as she settled in bed that night. She was really and truly in the water for Carmilla Kaarnstein. She was brilliant, beautiful and everything Laura could have possibly asked for, wished for or dreamed of or hoped for. Oh great, the girl thought amusedly to herself. Even my inner monologues are ramble and long and out of control! She went to sleep with one thought in her head: I’ll tell her tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can anyone guess what Laura is going to tell Carmilla? Sound off in the comments. Keep on living and keep on smiling. :)


	11. I Love You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Events transpire. Warnig: DO NOT SKIP THIS CHAPTER!!!! It's crucial to the story. Please enjoy.

Laura was excited, anticipating and nervous all at once. She was presently having a really bad case of the jitters. There was a reason for that. No, despite what her friends, particularly Perry, would probably say at this point, it wasn’t because of the amount of sugar she consumed. It was because she was extremely anxious and every word that described the feeling of butterflies dancing a very energetic version of the Zumba in her stomach. She felt this way for a simple yet oh so complicated reason: she was going to tell her girlfriend, Carmilla, that she was extremely, deeply and irrevocably in love with her. She was going to tell a centuries-old vampire who most likely had a far more vast amount of knowledge than tiny, gay, very human Laura could only dream of acquiring in her very short lifetime that she, a lowly, tiny, and aforementioned gay human had fallen for her, the all-powerful Carmilla Karnstein. At least, compared to Carmilla’s hundreds of years of life, Laura added to herself. She was afraid that Carmilla had pulled a move like Samantha the artificial intelligence/operating system from the wildly popular movie Her and she had transcended love or something like that. Laura really wanted Carmilla to return her affections, but she didn’t dare hope. As high school students were so fond of saying, She was out of Laura’s league, at least in Laura’s eyes.

Her anxiety and uneasiness and excitement increasing several times over, causing her to feel a little dizzy, nauseous and lightheaded, the journalism major made her way to her girlfriend’s dorm. She had never really been on this side of the campus or in Carmilla’s dorm, but she was too nervous to worry. Although, she thought, I do wonder what kind of place Carmilla lives in. Maybe it’s a coffin, she joked silently to herself as she made her way over to where the vampire had indicated on a map of the campus earlier that day.  
Laura’s breath caught in her throat as the dorm building labeled “Miranda” came into view. “Whoa,” she breathed, speechless and awestruck at the sight. This was most definitely not a coffin. The building was very tasteful in its appearance, painted in muted colors: beige, gray, white, the works. The windows appeared to be floor to ceiling and made entirely of stained glass. Several chimneys were atop the building, which meant there were fireplaces inside. The girl wondered if Carmilla’s room had one.

Making her way into the dorm hall, Laura smiled at the charm about the place. There were old-fashioned torches lining the walls instead of the traditional fluorescent lighting, and the doors of the rooms were all oak and ebony and ivory and other woods that Laura, with her very limited knowledge of carpentry, could not name. She saw that Her assessment of the appearance of the place had been correct after all. The only thing that was different upon closer inspection was that her quick look could not do the beauty of the place justice. The architecture was magnificent and the marble floors of the hallways and the wood of the doors were absolutely spotless, gleaming even, in the sunlight. Laura understood very well why Carmilla had decided to live here. She knew that Carmilla had been allowed to decide because her mother apparently owned the university, along with about a dozen other corporations.

Making her way to the door marked Karnstein, the small girl reached out and knocked softly, knowing from the conversations the two had had and her own research that Carmilla would pick up on the noise since her hearing was hypersensitive.  
The door opened slowly and Laura was greeted with—huh? A mass of black fur and two brown eyes stood in front of her. What the… Holy Hufflepuff! Laura thought to herself, looking at the creature.  
“Carm?” she guessed, receiving a nod from the giant cat. Laura smiled, quickly getting over her fear/trepidation of the big cat. It was actually kinda cute, now that Laura wasn’t so shocked and scared of it.  
“Can I pet you?” she asked, smiling at Catmilla.

Garnering a nod of consent from her cat girlfriend, Laura dropped down on her knees and, kneeling, gently stroked the fur on Catmilla’s head. Delighted, she discovered the fur was silky and soft. Even better, Catmilla purred with Laura’s continued ministrations.  
After petting the creature for a few minutes, Laura stood up and in a puff of smoke, Carmilla stood in her human form, smiling at Laura warmly. “I see you weren’t frightened as many of my previous suitors have been,” she teased, kissing Laura on the lips. Blushing, Laura returned the gesture and the smile.  
“It takes more than that to phase me,” she answered, all bravado.

Carmilla looked at her seriously. “I don’t doubt that for a single millisecond,” she said, making Laura blush even more than she already was.  
So what did you want to tell me?” she asked, stroking Laura’s hair. Laura took a breath of air to try to prepare herself for what was to come. It was time. There was no turning back now.

“I love you,” she blurted out, then turned a deep burgundy. CArmilla smiled, a tender glow touching her eyes as she looked at Laura, the love and affection she had for the tiny human apparent there. “You beat me to it, I suppose. I was about to tell you that I am in love with you. It’s a shame too. I had a speech prepared and everything,” she said, wrapping Laura in a hug. Right than, Laura Hollace could not be any happier, not even if someone handed her a million rainbows. In Carmilla’s arms and with their love in the air, she was finally home, finally whole.


	12. The Confession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All the Holstein feels! Please read and enjoy. Keep some tissues handy for the joyful tears about to flow out of your tear ducts. I am not sorry in the slightest. :) :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. I really want to thank the person who corrected me about the whole Hollace thing. It's Hollis! Hey Hee. Thank you. Please enjoy. :) :)

Carmilla and Laura walked together through the campus of Silas University. They wanted to just relax, and since Laura hadn’t really been around the entire campus like Carmilla had, it seemed like as good of an option as any.  
Carmilla led the small girl through the grounds as Laura chattered on about the new Harry Potter movie, which wasn’t really that new, but which she, Laura, had gone to see a little late, in typical Laura fashion. Also in typical Laura fashion, she had been utterly enthusiastic about it from the moment she had seen a tweet about it And so, the vampire listened amusedly to the tiny bubbly human beside her. She usually could not stand chattery people who didn’t shut up after a minute or so, but her love for Laura helped her to overcome it. Furthermore, Carmilla was only half-listening. She was getting ready for the biggest plunge of her life: Telling Laura Hollis that she returned her feelings extremely deeply. Of course, the vampire realized that she may have implied that she returned Laura’s affections when the other girl had declared her love for the raven-haired goddess, but Carmilla wanted to make sure that there were absolutely no miscommunications about the matter. She wanted to ensure that Laura knew just how deep her feelings ran.

Soon, the couple made their way over to a sort of tower and made their way up to the roof. Laura gasped as they ascended to the highest apex of the enormous building. “Wow! It’s just like the astronomy tower in Harry Potter!” she squealed, completely delighted. CArmilla chuckled in amusement, the sound low and throaty. “Calm down, Princess,” she teased, squeezing Laura’s hand as it lay between them. Laura’s cheeks turned a bright, light pink as she returned the affectionate gesture. 

The vampire reached over and, from a previously unseen duffel bag, she pulled a bottle of sparkling cider, a basket of freshly baked oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies and a flask of blood, which Laura looked at with fascination rather than fear or disgust, either one of which would have been the reaction the vampire would have expected. Then again, she always manages to surprise me, Carmilla added as an afterthought.  
Unsurprisingly, however, Laura grinned and immediately dug in to the basket, shoveling cookie after cookie into her mouth, making her cheeks bulge adorably. With how she was completely obsessed and/or in love with cookies, the girl reminded Carmilla of that absurdly ridiculous yet hilarious character on Sesame Street, the one known as Cookie Monster.

“What did that cookie ever do to deserve oh so much attention from you, dearest Laura?” CArmilla teased, leaning over and kissing one of the tiny human’s overstuffed cheeks. She looked, to CArmilla at least, like a squirrel that had just finished its preparations for the winter and was about to settle down, what with the overly full face and all.  
“It was sweet. That is all. Be a little sweeter, and maybe you’ll earn such a great showering of affection from me.”  
The serious effect that was desired with the tone and the words was ruined by the absurd look of Laura Hollis and her overstuffed squirrel cheeks, crumbs around her mouth. Carmilla laughed until she cried. She had never believed that to be possible, yet it had indeed happened. It was all in jest and both women were very well aware of that fact.

The time had come, the moment of truth had arrived. It was time for CArmilla to put her plan into action. She looked at Laura more tenderly and adoringly than she had ever before, more fondly than she had probably ever looked at anyone, even Miranda.  
“I am completely and utterly in love with you, Laura Hollis, more than you will ever realize,” she began, knowing full well how utterly cliched she sounded but not really caring at the current moment.

Her girlfriend’s eyes widened as the vampire continued. “I have never truly loved anyone Yet, with you, I feel as if I can take on the entire universe. Of course I have great power and strength and immortality and all of those things, but I have never had this… this sort of tender adoration and complete devotion to a person, human or otherwise before. I have never felt this warmth that touches me deep in my bones in all my centuries of existence on this planet. I have never felt so utterly alive. I was in the dark when you came along and you turned all my gray thoughts and all of my insecurities and loneliness and depression into birdsong and light and air and all of that. I never truly understood the poets of times past that would write about love being this elixir of happiness and all that crap, but I get it now. In short, I am completely and utterly head over heels drowning in love with you, Laura Hollis.”

The older girl reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. Scrolling through her Apple Music library, she hit play on one of her new favorite songs. “Say You Won’t Let Go” by James Arthur began to play through the speakers and Laura and Carmilla both felt it was an extremely fitting song for the emotions pervading the air and turning all that was dark into brilliant, unseen yet utterly blinding, warm light.


	13. Will You...?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things happen. Please enjoy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter makes a little bit of a time jump. This is the second to the last chapter in this story. Comment if you want me to turn this into a series in which we explore life after this story. Thanks for reading and the last chapter will be up soon. Also, thank you soooooooooooooo muuuuuuuuuuch for all the hits, comments and kudos. :) Keep on living and keep on smiling. :) See you in my next work. :) :)

It was the day. Laura and Carmilla had been together for a year. They were truly in love with each other and both women were, without a shadow of a doubt happier than they had ever been in their entire lives. Even ordinary students noticed the difference in the two girls’ attitudes. Laura was more social and less shy and reserved, while Carmilla seemed happier. LaFontaine, Perry and Miranda had all noticed the changes in their friends.  
“You’re as fresh as a spring chicken, your steps as light as that of a gazelle’s,” Perry had commented a few months ago when she had been in one of her frequent poetic moods. Laura had laughed and agreed whole-heartedly with one of her closest friends. Carmilla had made her life Wonderful indeed.  
Things were about to change yet again for the couple.

Laura had invited carmilla over to her dorm for some dinner and conversation. Since the university did not allow switches in roommate assignments partway through the year, the two women were not yet living together, though they both desired to do so. So Laura waited nervously since she had a little plan. In a matter of moments, her beloved vampire had walked in and sat next to her, smiling at the marvelous spread before them: amazingly prepared fettuccine Alfredo, with a side of Garlic Parmesan bread and a glass of red wine mixed liberally with blood standing proudly beside Carmilla’s plate. In Laura’s glass, the tiny human’s preferred sparkling cider had its place of honor. The older girl chuckled at the typical choice of beverage and dug in, savoring the food. She obviously didn’t really need it for sustenance as humans like Laura did, but she still took pleasure in food: its taste and richness and utter flavor. Then she turned her attention to the glass of blood.  
“I got it from LaF,” Laura explained. Ah yes, the biology major who was utterly fascinating to Carmilla. They, along with their girlfriend Lola Perry had met the vampire and welcomed her into their little family of sorts, with LaFontaine stating “If Laura loves you, then so do we.” It had been a maudlin affair, but Carmilla rather liked the person, though she often pretended not to.

After the meal, Laura judged it was time to get things moving in an even better direction than they were currently going in. She decided to skip all the cliche romantic crap and just do it. She looked at Carmilla and smiled warmly.  
“Will you marry me, Carm?” she asked, an expression of nervousness flashing over her profile.  
There was absolutely no need for Laura to have been worried in the slightest.  
“Well, it’s about time you asked, Sugarplum,” Carmilla answered, taking the ring Laura was offering, a beautiful thing with tiny diamonds around the edges, and slipping it on. Laura beamed and looked surprised when Carmilla grabbed her hand and slid on a stunningly brilliant ring inlaid with diamonds and rubies and every precious stone imaginable, set in solid 24-karat gold. “I was going to ask you,” camilla explained, clearing up the confusion rather quickly.

The vampire smiled adoringly as Laura embraced her tightly and kissed her cheeks, then her lips, and then just leaned affectionately against her new fiancee. “It was something I made many years ago, in hopes that I would find my one. It seems the thing won’t go to waste,” Carmilla said, smiling at Laura with a mixture of love and gratitude and devotion in her dark eyes.  
As Laura felt all her emotions, she couldn’t get one thought out of her head: I wouldn’t trade any of this for anything in the universe!  
Things got even better. Carmilla explained to Laura that she had talked to the dean of students at Silas, and since her mother owned the university and for that reason her daughter, Carmilla, had great influence and power, they would be living permanently in Laura’s dorm room, while Laura’s current roommate would be living on her own in carmilla’s old space. As the pair quickly transported all of the vampire’s things into Laura’s room, they could not get their faces to remain straight for a single second. They would finally be truly unseparated, with not a single inch between them. And it was apparent to anyone, casual observer or not, that both Laura Hollis and Carmilla Karnstein were completely and fully ready for that, that they were ready for their relationship to move to all the places it was moving now, and that they were ready to spend the rest of the entirety of their lives together.


	14. Say You Won't Let Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter. Thank you so much for going on this amazing ride with me. :) :)

The day had finally arrived. After six months of planning and a lot of fawning over from Laura and her friends and even Miranda, it was time for Laura and Carmilla to be united forever. Laura had asked to be turned and Carmilla had done it the night before and now they stood in the hall, about to be wed by Perry, who had gone online on one of those websites and gotten ordained. She was bouncing with barely contained excitement and glee as she took her place. Laura stood waiting at the altar, having been led by LaFontaine, who was excited in their own contained way. Both girls had been prepped by their friends an they had both received the “this is the best day of your lives; do not screw it up!” Speech.

Now, the music started and the door at the back of the hall opened. Carmilla, in stunning cream silk, was making her entrance, moving down the richly carpeted aisle, Miranda beside her. The vampire looked absolutely, positively breathtaking as Laura’s complete gaping expression indicated. Everyone that mattered was in the guest seating: Laura’s father, Kirsch, his girlfriend Danny and Loretta, Miranda’s maker. Oddly enough, Carmilla’s maker had not made an appearance, but no one really noticed or cared, not even Carmilla herself.

The two were face to face now and they could not keep their eyes off each other. “You look beautiful,” Laura, in matching cream silk, whispered reverently when she had closed her mouth and found her voice.  
Carmilla laughed, a tiny bit of color making an appearance on her pale cheeks. The older vampire found that this human turned vampire fledgling’s praise still affected her in a big way. In addition, she had learned, over the wonderful, exhilarating, glorious year she had known and courted Laura that she would never tire of anything her beloved said or did. She had never, prior to knowing Laura, at least, understood why lovers in romance novels both old and modern went on and on about being in love with everything about their significant other, about how they would never tire of hearing a Laugh or seeing a certain kind of smile or hearing a particular story or set of words fall from their lips and all of that. She was, needless to say, very much enlightened now.

the most important part of the entire ceremony had finally come. It was time for the brides to say their vows to each other, declaring their love for one another in front of all their closest friends and family.

Laura chose to go first when Perry asked them if they had prepared any vows. She had elected to improvise. Taking a deep breath, she began.  
“When I first saw you on the way to one of my classes, I was captivated by your beauty and your genius level intellect. You were talking to someone and I could not keep my eyes away from you, could not stop watching you to see what you would do or say next. Some time after that first sighting, about a few months later actually, I was encouraged to talk to you by Kirsch at a party. I was nervous but we found that we had a lot in common, more than we would have believed. Soon, I was finding myself confiding my biggest, deepest, darkest secrets to you as we snuggled under the blankets and spent lots of nights on the phone. I could not believe it, but I knew from all the books I had read over my lifetime and from the feelings swirling around within me: I was in love. We both told each other and you were amazing and I could not leave you even if I tried. Eventually, we got engaged. We both asked each other at the same time. You turned me last night and now I’m standing here in front of all our family and friends and I’m saying this: I am completely, irreversibly, irrevocably in love with you, Carmilla Karnstein. I would not give you up for anything in the universe, even if someone told me I would get to meet the casts of Dr. Who, Harry Potter, Big Bang Theory, and Star Trek.”  
Everyone laughed and cried as Laura stepped aside, letting her beloved take the spot she had filled a moment prior.

“Well, you’ve given me a lot to live up to their, Buttercup,” Carmilla quipped, drawing another laugh from the audience. “I will do my best, however. Let it be known that Karnsteins are not quitters.”

With a confident smile, carmilla began her own vow.  
“Before I met you, I was experiencing a great deal of inner turmoil. I was in a state of depression, since I had lived for many centuries and I was getting tired of life. However, I met you and the world around me changed. I was and always will be enchanted and delighted by you, Laura Hollis. I love you, and I am and will eternally be grateful that I get to spend the rest of forever with you, mon amour. Thank you for this greatest of gifts.”

People at that wedding would always remember it as not only the day two soul mates were made one, but also as the day Carmilla Karnstein cried for the first and possibly the only time in all of her existence.  
“I now pronounce you Mrs. and Mrs. Karnstein!” Perry proclaimed, and the two kissed tenderly, to the cheering approval of the onlookers.

It was time for the newlyweds’ first dance. Laura didn’t know what song Carmilla had requested, so her eyes filled with joyful tears as James Arthur himself walked onto the stage and performed a special acoustic version of “Say You Won’t Let Go.” Laura felt at peace.

 

Epilogue…

If there was anything Laura Karnstein was certain of, it was this: her beloved wife could sleep for a long time and very deeply. She decided to let her take it easy. After sending their children, Five-year-old Promise and Three-year-old Kira off to school and making sure they were fine and after letting both girls and their teacher know that Aunt Perry would be picking them up for a sleepover with Jack and Magnus, their twin cousins, she made a tray of breakfast, complete with Carmilla’s preferred black coffee and handed it to the now awake (reluctantly) vampire. Laura felt, deep in her bones this was home. she knew she wouldn't be letting go anytime soon.

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me what you thought. Keep on living and keep on smiling. :)


End file.
